My new variety of lily plant is classified botanically as a Lilium hybrid; commercially, as an upright Asiatic hybrid, Division I-A in the Horticultural Classification of the Genus Lilium adopted by The Royal Horticultural Society of London.
My new variety of lily plant originated as a seedling selected from a group of seedlings among the seedling beds of test crosses at Oregon Bulb Farms, Sandy, Oreg. The cross was made in 1969. The lily plant first flowered in 1971.
The cross was made during a breeding program having as its objective the production of brilliantly-colored, upright-flowering lily cultivars, which would perform well when forced into flower under glass throughout the year, in addition to meeting the requirements of vigor, disease resistance, and rapid natural propagation and field growth. Cultivars were sought which would be disease resistant, virus tolerant, and not susceptible to scorch and bud abortion when forced under glass.
The cross was made between the seed parent Lilium `Joan Evans` (unpatented) and the pollen parent Lilium `Connecticut King` (unpatented).
My new lily plant is characterized by rapid natural propagation under field conditions and by vigorous and healthy growth when forced under glass with improved resistance to leaf scorch and bud abortion. It is further characterized by improved inflorescence, buds of an intense yellow color, and flowers which are also of an intense yellow color. The flowers have relatively thick, broad and overlapping tepals lightly spotted with tiny, pigmented papillae.
Lilium `Golddigger` most closely resembles the older cultivar `Connecticut King` which is its pollen parent. However, it differs from it and is superior to it, in its intensely yellow bud color, its intensely yellow flower color, and the presence of broader and overlapping lightly spotted tepals. It also can be forced into flower under glass more rapidly than can `Connecticut King` and it demonstrates improved resistance to leaf scorch and bud abortion upon forcing.
My new variety of lily plant has been asexually produced by me and under my direction at Oregon Bulb Farms in Sandy, Oreg. Successive generations produced by bulb scale propagation and natural propagation from below ground stem bulblets have demonstrated that the novel and distinctive characteristics of my new variety are fixed and hold true under asexually propagation from generation to generation.